Russian Seasons

Ratmansky’s critically-acclaimed first NYCB work is a multi-hued ballet that embraces life's most important moments with its vivid and compelling humanity.

Alexei Ratmansky choreographed Russian Seasons for New York City Ballet’s 2006 Diamond Project, a festival of new works. For the score, Leonid Desyatnikov takes authentic melodies and text from the collection called Traditional Music from the Russian Lake District and sets them as four "concertos" of three "movements" each, in a form similar to Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. Desyatnikov’s scoring is also similar to Vivaldi's — both use string orchestra and solo violin — but Desyatnikov adds a solo female voice. The composition explores various human experiences, such as love, loss, and death, while following the quarterly rituals of the Orthodox Church.